DONALD Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani claimed North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un “begged” for the summit with the US President to be resumed after the White House pulled out of the crunch meeting.

The former mayor of New York hit out at North Korea saying Kim was desperate when Trump cancelled the meeting on May 24.

Speaking at a business conference in Israel, he praised how the US President is handling the country’s foreign policy and how he is approaching to the historical encounter with the North Korean dictator, planned for June 12 in Singapore.

Mr Giuliani said: “The president is optimistic but is not unrealistic.

“Look at how he handled Korea and Iran, much differently than the prior president, who left a terrible mess in both places.

But he decided to cancel the summit after Choe Son Hui, a vice-minister in the North Korean Foreign Ministry, called US Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and warned of a “nuclear showdown”.

The meeting was officially back on by June 1, after US talks with North Korean envoy General Kim Yong-chol who headed to the White House.

Mr Giuliani, a strong supporter of Israel, said the attitude adopted by Trump with North Korea should be used also with the Palestinian authorities to solve the decade-long crisis in Gaza.

He said: “That’s what is ought to happen here, change the dynamic of the whole negotiation.

“The Palestinians have to be willing to take steps they haven’t been willing to take before.”

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump are set to meet in Singapore on June 12 (Image: GETTY)

Rudy Giuliani represents the US President in the Russian investigation (Image: GETTY)

Mr Giuliani, who represents the US President in the Russian investigation, later rejected suggestions his comments might sour the atmosphere ahead of the summit.

He said: "It is pointing out that the President is the stronger figure.

"And you're not going to have useful negotiations unless he accepts that.”

Saying Kim quickly expressed willingness to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula after Trump pulled out of the meeting, he said: "That's what I mean by begging for it."